Coward
by ThePenWielder
Summary: Thalia and Percy have a clear the air talk a couple months after the final battle on Mount Olympus. She is feeling guilty about some of her decisions in the past. Post TLO. Oneshot.


**Hello again! I am back! And really, it's not that long compared to some of my updating habits. **  
><strong>Anyway, so I was re-reading the Percy Jackson series this summer because 1) I love them 2) I honestly have had nothing better to do. But I got totally inspired to write a PJO fic, even if it is just a oneshot. So this is my first one and I'm still getting used to the characters so please excuse any OOCness. But I feel like it was mostly in character. <strong>  
><strong>Please, let me know what you think! Enjoy and review! :)<br>**

**I'll hopefully have another oneshot or short story up sometime because this series is just so awesome.**

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><p>Percy's POV-<p>

"Are you… allowed to be here?" I asked, fidgeting in the diner booth.

Thalia snorted. "Of course I'm allowed to be here, Kelp-for-Brains," she said. Great, _another_ nickname. Better not let Annabeth hear this one.

"Even Artemis's Hunters are able to see their friends. There shouldn't be a problem, unless you try something on me." She smirked.

"Uhh… I, um-" I stuttered uncomfortably, feeling my cheeks redden. It wasn't that I had never though of Thalia in that way. I mean, I guess in a strange punk sort of way she was cute, but she was beyond off limits. Before she joined Artemis and swore off boys eternally we kind of fought nonstop and often hated one another. Annabeth was our main link.

Oh, right. _Annabeth_. That's important- I can't forget that.

"It was a joke," Thalia laughed. "Anyway, she'd kill us both. But definitely you first. And painfully." There was no need to clarify who "she" was.

"Thanks," I muttered. I pushed my plate of fires away, suddenly not too hungry. Imagining Annabeth grinding my bones to dust for the putting the moves on any other girl was too probable and possible. It's been made clear on multiple occasions that she can (and will) beat the snot out of me in just about every kind of combat.

"Lighten up, Seaweed Brain. The war is over. Camp is going better then ever. You've finally got the girl. And no one wants to kill you, for now."

"Actually, I've figured someone almost _always_ wants to kill me," I speculated realistically.

"You are pretty annoying," Thalia agreed, dipping a fry in her milkshake. I made a grossed out face.

She only shrugged and said, "Don't knock it 'till you try it."

We sat in silence for a while, eating our burgers and fries a little uneasily. We had basically covered every topic for small talk, and with the war over that only left our personal lives for conversation. A topic neither of us were exactly too keen on mentioning. I had never been great at talking with girls, especially one-on-one. Heck, I still made an idiot of myself daily in front of Annabeth. It was even harder to talk with Thalia because of her new boy hating status.

And while she was the one that called me here, I felt like I should say something.

"So… how is recruiting for new Hunters going?" I asked finally. Now that all my food was gone I had nowhere to look but at Thalia.

"Pretty well." She shrugged. "Zeus is making good on his promise to help. Not that I thought he wouldn't," she added hastily, looking at the sky through the window. She might be a maiden of Artemis and the big guys daughter, but Zeus could still zap her with a million volts of electricity.

"I hear there are more demigods than ever at camp right now," she said.

"Yeah, we get more almost every day now. And we're almost done with the cabin renovations. At least, that's what Chiron and Grover tell me. I still am going to school and really don't go there very much."

"That's great." She forced a smile and fingered her silver bracelet that I knew could turn into a terrifying shield with the face of Medusa. A sure sign she was nervous.

"Not that catching up isn't great," I said carefully, "but why did you call me here?"

"I've been… well, wanting to _talk_ to you," Thalia explained.

We both glanced around at the noisy diner, judging whether or not it was safe to talk without being overhear. With the combination of all the background racket and power of the Mist, I figured the mortals would stay ignorant. They always did. Obviously, Thalia didn't agree.

"Let's get outta here," she suggested. "Go to Central Park or something."

Being demigods, our ADHD made it difficult to just sit still and talk for too long. Paying the bill, we left the diner and walked into the cool October aid. It wasn't as awkward between us now that we were up and about, not just watching each other.

"So, what's up? Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. Everything's great. I just wanted to, er… make sure we were okay, I guess. That there are no hard feelings between us," Thalia muttered, tugging self-consciously on her silver jacket.

"Between _us_?" I repeated, my eyebrows scrunching together in confusion. "Uh, yeah. I mean, why wouldn't they be?"

She sighed in exasperation and said, "I was only, like, the biggest coward ever. Abandoning you to be the prophecy child because I became a Hunter."

That made me stop and think. Thalia. A coward? I'd though of her as a lot of things, but coward never made that list. In fact, I'd always saw Thalia as ridiculously, almost stupidly, fearless. A trait I secretly admired. At least until I became invincible and all.

But trust me, talk to Annabeth and she'll call me stupidly fearless… or something along those lines. It'd probably sound a lot ruder and not as cool coming from her.

"You're the furthest thing from a coward," I protested. She glared at me like I was the one making this difficult

"Then how do you explain running away?" she demanded. She stopped suddenly at a bench and sat down heavily.

"Listen, Percy," Thalia began. "Have you ever thought about how the prophecy might've been had I not made the choice to be a Hunter?"

"Uh, no…" I answered truthfully. "But have you ever thought that your decision to never turn 16 was just part of the prophecy?"

Thalia stared at me like I just announced that I was going to propose to the Minotaur. "I- no. I never had thought of that," she said slowly.

"Then think about it. The prophecy never said it was going to be the _first_ demigod of the Big Three that turned 16 would have the power to destroy or save Olympus," I pointed out. "For all we know, you could've never had an age freeze, turned 16 on time, and I still would be the chosen one, or whatever."

Leaning back on the bench, she ran an agitated hand through her spiky hair. It seemed to be taking a lot of effort to process this new outlook on the situation.

"I honestly had never though about it that way," Thalia muttered. "For the past two years I was so consumed with guilt about my decision I only saw it in a way that made me seem as awful as possible."

"What do you have to feel guilty about?" I asked and kicked away a pigeon next to my foot.

"Gods, you are so dense," she exclaimed, shooting me an incredulous look. "Why does Annabeth date you, Seaweed Brain?"

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "Beats me, Pinecone Face. I try not to question it."

"Smart move." Thalia smirked.

"Okay, okay. So, I kinda get why you might feel guilty," I allowed.

"And you're not mad at all?" she asked curiously.

"Not anymore, but maybe at the beginning. Mad isn't the right word, though; resentful is better. I mean, I was just angry that you had a way to escape it, but in a few years I would have no choice but to stand up and face it," I admitted. I had never actually talked with anyone about this before. It was oddly freeing.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

The two of us sat in companionable silence for a while. From a distance all we were was two teenagers enjoying a beautiful day in Central Park. When I squinted real hard, I was sometimes able to see it, too. My eyes shut as a wind blew through my untidy hair that my mom always tried to get to lie down flat. Without success, I might add.

"If it means anything, I'm glad it was you," Thalia murmured softly.

"Why?" I breathed, keeping my eyes closed.

"Because… I wouldn't have had the courage to do what you did. Annabeth told me everything that happened up on Olympus and- and I don't think I could've done it," she admitted shakily. "I may be a Hunter now, but you have no clue how much Luke and I have been through. Annabeth may not have really loved him, but-"

"Thalia, stop," I interrupted. "I understand. You don't have to explain anything to me."

She bit her lip and nodded. "I just felt like I owed you an explanation. To make sure there were no hard feelings…" she went on. "So, we're cool?"

"We're very cool," I promised, grinning.

"You know, Percy, for a boy, you're not so bad," Thalia relented. "You might even almost deserve Annabeth… almost."

When it came to Thalia that was as close to a compliment as I was ever going to get. And of course, right after she complimented me (sort of) she throws out another Seaweed Brain and grills me about my relationship with her best friend. It was a system of balances that worked well with us. As Annabeth once told me, we would either be the best of friends or try to strangle one another. We try not to let either of those options happen.

"So, I, uh- well, I gotta go." I stumbled over my words. "Meeting Annabeth." I blushed.

"Fine, I wouldn't want you to be late," she snickered and we both stood up.

"Only because she'd kick my butt if I was," I offered.

"True." Thalia laughed. "But just remember, Barnacle Breath, I can and will hunt you down in an instant. So don't screw this up," she warned.

Yeah, okay. Whatever. No pressure or anything. Just Artemis's Lieutenant of the Hunt with a violent streak threatening to disembowel me at any wrong turn. Sure, piece of cake. I resisted gulping. Suddenly a giant Titan Lord was looking pretty appealing.

"Okay… understood."

"Bye, Percy." She smiled and hugged me. "Don't get into too much trouble."

"Me? Never," I scoffed.

Thalia and I walked in our separate directions and I stuffed my hands in my pocket to warm them. Being invincible to bullets, swords, and the like, I will admit is pretty awesome, but let me tell you, being immune to the cold? Now that is a talent worthy of the immortal. If I can find a river to cure that problem I'll be the first one in.

I leaned up against the railing at our normal meeting place in Central Park. The wind blew across the shallow pond and sent ripples waving across the surface. With a slight smile, I pushed them backwards against their natural motion causing the ducks to scatter.

"You're late," I heard form behind me.

I smirked. "Uh, who beat who?" I asked, turning around. Annabeth had her arms crossed and that look on that said she was trying to be annoyed but really wasn't.

"I was already here but you hadn't shown up yet. I went for a walk to wait for you," Annabeth said. She stood next to me, still looking smug, as we glanced out over the water.

"Sorry, I got held up with Thalia," I explained.

"That's right. You're not burnt to a crispy critter, so I'm assuming it went well."

"Thalia was Thalia." I shrugged. Annabeth bumped my shoulder with hers reproachfully.

"Be nice," she reprimanded teasingly.

"Oh, fine," I grinned. "It went great, we didn't fight like cats and dogs, and she's leaving Artemis to run away with me," I joked, hiding a smile.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain. Thalia's smart enough not to fall for you the likes of you." She rolled her eyes and let out a cute little snort.

Well, what does that say about her intelligence then? I mean, do we need a reminder about just exactly whom she is dating? So, Thalia was too good for me, but I wasn't too good for Annabeth in her mind. 'Cause that totally makes perfect sense in Girl Land or whatever, but back here in reality all us boyfriends are just dazed and confused. Holy Zeus, and they say _we_ are the complicated gender.

"I can be charming," I protested, slipping my hand inside hers. And hers unlike mine had somehow managed to stay moderately warm even in the cold air.

"Percy, geez, your hands are freezing," Annabeth commented, putting her other hand on top of mine. She rubbed my hand in between her smaller, warm ones, every once in a while brining it to her lips to breath hot air on my fingers. The process was repeated with the other hand until she was satisfied my fingers wouldn't turn black and fall off from frostbite. I gave her a soft kiss in return. I think we all know who got the better deal there.

"So, what did Thalia have to say?" she asked.

"Not much. We ate burgers."

Both her eyebrows raised in suspicion. "Right… she called you up just to have burgers," Annabeth reiterated skeptically.

It's not that I particularly wanted to keep things from Annabeth (mainly because she'll find out anyway if I try to hide it), but something about how Thalia had us meet one-on-one just made me think that maybe it was a sort of personal thing she didn't want advertised. Even to her best friend.

"That and to run away with me," I reminded her lightheartedly, sliding an arm over her shoulders to prove I was only kidding.

"You're awful. Just tell me," she demanded hopelessly. I only shook my head. "Fine. I'm seeing her tomorrow. She'll just tell me anyway."

"Good, I hope she does," I answer honestly.

"Why do you make everything so difficult?" Annabeth exulted, frowning.

"Because I'm never, ever going to make things easy for you, Wise Girl," I promised, kissing her head and beaming widely to myself.

Annabeth sighed but tucked herself in more closely to my side. "Where have I heard that one before?" she grumbled.

But I caught her trying to hide the smile spread across her face as she looked away. _Good try, Wise Girl._


End file.
